Negril VillageThere's more to Caribbean cooking
than beef patties and jerk chicken, or at least that's
what owner Marva Layne is out to prove at Negril
Village, the third restaurant in her rice-and-peas
realm. Bigger and flashier than Negril and Island Spice,
the new space has 100 seats, a downstairs bar called
Rum Lounge (pictured), and a V.I.P. section. Co-chefs
Paul Joseph and Pablo Trobo have collaborated on a culinary
style they call Nu-Caribbean: an island mélange of dishes
like smoked jerk marlin, tamarind-grilled pork on sugarcane
skewers, and "Blue Mountain" steak with coffee-spiked
rum and white yams. 70 West 3rd
Street
212-477-2804
· Cuisine: Caribbean

previewKaiYou'll never look at your afternoon
cup of tea the same way after a meal at Kai.
The 44-seat restaurant serving food inspired by kaiseki,
the complex Japanese meal served after a tea ceremony,
opens next week above the new Ito En retail shop (pictured),
owned by Japan's largest producer of green tea. Those
exquisitely presented courses are accompanied by tea
or sake in handblown glass or painted copper cups. Four
levels of prix-fixe dinners ($55, $70, $85, and $110
for the full-on omakase) are offered-lunch is à la carte-and
most dishes are flavored with the restaurant's theme
ingredient: striped bass roasted with tea leaves packed
in a salt crust, green-tea noodles with silky tofu,
and lobster-salmon-and-grapefruit salad with green-tea
vinaigrette. If that's all too financially caffeinated
for you, visit the downstairs shop, which specializes
in tea paraphernalia and has a cherry-wood counter just
for sipping. 822 Madison
Avenue, at 69th Street
212-988-7277
· Cuisine: Japanese

ONYThis casual Japanese canteen comes to us via the owners of Menchanko-Tei, the
noodle-shop chainlet. Only here, the name stands for "Original Noodle for
You," and the focus is on customized ramen. Choose your broth, your
toppings, and slurp. Or if that takes too much effort, go with one of the
chef's specials, like kimchi menchanko, udon or soba noodles, fried calamari
rolls, or Japanese-style fried free-range chicken.
357 Sixth Avenue
212-414-8429
· Cuisine: Japanese